


A Stitch in Time Saves Nine (or Two)

by Lachesissora



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Brief mention of Vergil and Dante, But Mostly Comfort, Credo - Freeform, F/M, Fluff, Hurt and comfort, Post-DMC5, Pre-DMC4, References to sewing, background Lady and Trish, nerokiri - Freeform, this author doesnt even sew lol, with a little bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:07:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29098524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lachesissora/pseuds/Lachesissora
Summary: Love comes in many different shapes and form. Sometimes it's through the act of mending someone's clothes.Other time it's from the act of stitching up a torn relationship.
Relationships: Kyrie/Nero (Devil May Cry)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 26





	A Stitch in Time Saves Nine (or Two)

**Author's Note:**

> A Stitch in Time saves Nine.  
> PROVERB: if you sort out a problem immediately it may save a lot of extra work later.
> 
> Special thanks to @Queenmuzz for suggesting the proverb to be used as the title. It fits the theme for this story so much. If she didn't have suggested it, I may stuck with the most boring title ever lol
> 
> Also this one is for @/Lululandd. Thank you for your Nerokiri request! It was supposed to be a drabble but then I decided to make a one shot out of it.

Shoot, not again! Nero cursed as he inspected his ruined shirt. Mr. and Mrs. Eleison had just bought him this shirt yesterday, and Nero was excited to wear them to school today. 

Such a fool. He should have expected those bullies’ reactions. They never liked Nero and they would always love to make Nero’s life miserable. Of course upon seeing Nero in his new shirt, they had rounded him up after school and beat him up, calling him names, and worst: insulting the people who bought him the shirt.

It wasn't that Nero didn’t fight back. Hell no! Nero didn’t mind being beaten by them but he was not the kind of boy who would let those  _ scumbags _ (Gosh, Credo would definitely scold him if he heard him use such foul language) insulting his friends. Well they started it and Nero was just defending himself. And he didn’t want to ruin the shirt.

But alas, he was outnumbered.

And his shirt was torn, ripped apart at the seams.

_ Damn it! _

“Nero?” Nero quickly turned towards the voice, panic filled his body as he tried to cover the torn shirt. But he was too late as the girl in front of him already saw his beaten state. “What happened?!” 

Kyrie ran to his side, carefully touching his swollen face. Nero didn’t even dare to look at her when she inspected his clothes. He felt sick. He didn’t want to appear ungrateful for his gift.

“Who did this?” She asked softly, but Nero could see the anger boiled deep within.

“It’s  _ them _ … but it’s fine, Kyrie.” He tried to brush it off. He didn’t want to make her worry or involved herself with his problem. She had already got enough hate just because she befriended him.

“No!” She shouted, her hand clenched tightly by her side as her body shook with anger. “This isn’t fine! Mama and Papa gave you this for your birthday! And they ruined it! This is too much already. They need to be punished!”

Kyrie’s eyes were brimmed with tears trying to contain her fury. Nero hated seeing her cry. Why would she be angry for him?

“Kyrie, it’s fine. Even if you say something the adults won’t believe me.” He left out a bitter laugh. It was the truth though. Nobody would believe the words of a whore son. It wasn’t that Nero hadn’t tried before but they won’t listen. “Don’t worry, I gave them a black eye each. They probably won’t try it again unless they ask for it.”

“Nero…” She reached out for his shirt again. 

“Sorry, Kyrie. I didn’t mean to ruin this shirt…” He paused as he saw the way Kyrie’s brows knitted together. “Hey?”

She stepped closer, eyeing the torn fabric. Then she smiled. “I think we can still fix this!”

“Huh?” 

“It’s only torn at the seams. A few stitches here then it will be good as new!” She stepped back.

“Okay… but I don’t know how to sew.” Nero pointed out. 

“That I already know, silly!” She giggled. “What I’m saying is that I can sew it back for you. Mama has taught me the basics and I did once for Credo’s too. So let me do it!”

Blinking at her offer, Nero stuttered. “No- Kyrie. I don’t want to trouble you-”

“No you’re not! In fact, I want to do it. So let me do it.” She insisted. 

Nero knew there was no way to stop her when she was determined to do something. Finally after a moment of staring between the two of them, Nero relented.

“Fine. But please don’t let your parents know. I don’t want them to be sad.” 

“I won’t, I promise! I’ll do it in my room so that mama and papa won’t know.” She raised her right pinky finger toNero’s face. Nero left out a smile.

“Promise” He slowly linked his pinky finger to hers to seal the promise. Then they shook their pinkies a few times before they broke the link.

* * *

It tore again.

Damn it. He just sewed his uniform a few days ago. How the hell did it tore again? Did he sew it wrongly? But he followed exactly like how Kyrie did when she sewed all of their clothes. Well, he just observed her doing it but he got the gist.

So why did it tore again?

“Need help?” Kyrie stood by the door to his room watching him inspecting his Order uniform. 

“Yeah.” He sighed as he turned to her. “I tried to sew this thing but it just doesn’t seem to work.” He showed her his brand new uniform. Nero had just got inducted into the Order as a squire a month ago so technically his uniform should be brand new. But not longer than two weeks of wearing his uniform, his uniform already had its threads loose. It was as if he was given the old and defective set of uniform instead of the brand new one.

“May I?” She sat at the edge of the bed next to him, holding her hand out for him. Nero then handed her his uniform along with the needles and the threads. She checked the torn area of the seams, even observing the needle work that Nero did to mend his uniform. “Ah! You didn’t tie the end correctly… look.”

She showed him his needlework but Nero didn’t understand what she had meant. “This part,” she pointed at the part where Nero did the sewing, “you didn’t properly end it correctly so that’s why it tore again.” 

“Really?” He took back his uniform to look closely. Ah, he saw it, the untied thread! “Holy- so that’s why it tears back easily!”

“Yes. Whenever you’ve done stitching something, you need to do a little knot to tie it up. Or else the stitches will be open again.” 

Nero nodded as he listened, finally aware of why the stitches always broke. “Thanks, Kyrie.”

“No problem.” She hummed and then she leaned forward at him, her curiosity leaked through. “Anyway, why did you not turn to me, Nero? I would have fixed it for you instead.”

“Ah,” He turned away, scratching his nose. “I just don’t want to trouble you with more housework. I-I mean, you already have a lot on your plate keeping our house together. So let me and Credo help you out a bit.”

“Hey, it’s nothing big. I like doing all those stuff. And... it’s not like you and Credo didn’t help too. You guys work hard in the Order to provide for us, right? So it’s fair that I am in charge of this.” She smiled as she took back his uniform, and started to mend it. 

“If you say so...” Nero rubbed his neck.

“So next time if you need someone to help you with your uniform, just tell me. I’ll be sure to help you out.”

* * *

It had been hours since the call.

To say that she didn't feel anxious throughout the day was an understatement. Ever since Nero departed for Redgrave, she never stopped praying for his safety. She knew she should have trusted him, that everything would be alright - that  _ he _ would be alright- but she couldn’t stop herself from overthinking for the worst case scenario to happen.

Especially when she remembered about her brother, Credo.

What had happened to Credo a few years back was still fresh in her mind. Some nights she woke up with his name in her tongue, tears falling down as the nightmare took him away. Other nights it was her being taken away, away from her brother, away from Nero and she fell into the bottomless pit, with no lights to guide her way out. For all of her nightmares that haunt her, that was the most terrifying one, because she was left alone with only his brother’s agony scream.

Not wanting to dwell in her thoughts, Kyrie then decided to keep herself busy by doing all of the chores at home. She had already sent Julio and Karl to school, while she had left Carlo to her friend’s house for the day. Thus, she had all the house to herself, so she started cleaning starting with the boys room and ended with her cleaning the kitchen. By the time she had done cleaning, it was already afternoon and she started to prep for lunch.

After she’s done with lunch and the older kids were back from school, the house was practically spotless. She had nothing else to do anymore but to relax.

But if she took a break now, then her mind would wander to that dark place.

And she didn’t want to go there.

Not when Nero was not around. 

The phone rang and Kyrie quickly ran to answer it.

And she left out a relieved sigh. Nero was okay. He was fine and he needed her assurance.

Later that evening, he called again. He sounded way much better than before and Nico was still there with him, teasing him like she would always do. He told her they would arrive home in the morning tomorrow, provided that they managed to catch the earliest ship to Fortuna. 

And that was that. 

No more calls. 

Until the next day, when Nero arrived home. His right arm was intact- regenerated on its own. She had questions, a lot of them. But she didn’t ask him. No, not yet. Nero needed the rest. Those questions could wait. 

And wait she did.

Because when Nero started to give her answers, more questions arose. The Saviour that she prayed throughout her life was his grandfather. The mysterious white mercenary that broke through the Fortuna Opera House’s window was his uncle- She did have her suspicions about Dante. Nero did too. She thought they were related, even dared to think he was Nero’s father. But they never managed to bring that topic up whenever Dante visited and Nero seemed to accept that maybe it was meant to be like that.

But an Uncle? Never would she think that Dante would have a brother. And that said brother was Nero’s father, Vergil. 

The same person who ripped Nero’s arm apart a few months ago, leaving him on the cold garage floor filled with his blood.

And now Dante and Vergil were stuck in hell. 

Would they be able to come back? Or would they stay in hell forever? What would Nero do if they suddenly knocked on their door? 

It was kind enough for Lady and Trish to inform him about his newly found family, but even then it wasn’t enough. All Nero knew that his father and uncle had some kind of bad blood with each other. And apparently his father was supposed to be dead, killed by his uncle.

“I don’t think they are going to hurt one another anymore, Nero.” Kyrie mentioned one evening. She was sitting at the sofa by the fireplace, mending his torn jacket.

“Why do you think so?” Nero asked.

“Well, didn’t you say that they have put aside their differences before jumping to hell together?” Nero nodded, unsure of where she was going. “Have you ever wondered why they did that?”

“I don’t know. I just stopped them from killing each other. And beat some sense to my father…hey, what’s with that smile?” Nero pouted as he saw the way her eyes were gleaming.

“I guess you already have your answers there, Nero.”

“What do you mean?” He paused as he stared at her in confusion. Her smile was still there, as if hinting him at  _ something _ . He tried to go back to his memories of that event. Yeah, he had stopped them and they had  _ thankfully _ listened to his request of not slaying one another. But when he thought deeper about it, he realised that they could have just ignored his request. So why?

“Wait-” His eyes went wide as he looked at Kyrie’s expectant face, “you mean it’s because of  **_me_ ** ?”

Kyrie nodded as she continued with her needlework. “Yes, Nero. They are doing it because of you.”

“But that’s- why?” He asked, a bit bewildered with that statement.

“The same reasons why you don’t want to lose them in the first place: Family. You are their family. The only remaining family that they have got. If I assume correctly from what I’ve gathered from others, they fought because they wanted to cope with their losses. They grew up separately, right? So their principle, their belief, are different. And to compensate for that, they fight. Because that was the only thing they knew how to be a family.” She tried to explain as best as she could. 

“But if that's so then why didn't Dante say anything at the beginning?” Frustration was apparent in Nero’s voice. It couldn’t be helped as for years Nero had been left in the dark, not knowing what exactly his relationship with that legendary demon hunter.

“Guilt.” Kyrie whispered quietly and Nero didn’t even need for her to clarify further. 

Because even if Dante didn’t tell him anything about their relationship, Dante still made an effort to be a mentor for him, as if he wanted to compensate for something. And now that he had known why, Nero was unsure what he was supposed to feel.

As much as he felt betrayed by Dante's actions of not telling him anything, he found himself understood why Dante did it.

“I think when you’ve stopped them from killing each other, they finally realised that they still have a family here. A family that still wants them even after everything. And because of that, they chose to stand down and let go of their rivalry for once. Mending their relationship, for you.”

She watched Nero glanced another way, swallowing the emotional turmoil in his heart. Suddenly an idea hit her and she tapped his shoulder to look at the ripped jacket on her hand. 

“It’s just like this ripped fabric here. Just because it had been ripped apart, doesn't mean we can’t fix it. All we need is a needle and a thread in order to mend it and then it will be as good as new. What I’m trying to say here, Nero, your father and uncle relationship has been restored, and it’s all because of you. You’re like this thread here, stitching them back together. Without you, they would probably kill one another, ripping the fabric further. You are important to them, Nero.”

“And yet they still left me.” His voice was low and broken. Kyrie knew how hurt Nero was when they left him for hell.

“They’ll come back, soon. Your father did tell you to hold on to that book, right?” she gestured her head towards the book on the coffee table, which Nero slowly glanced over there as well. “Then by all means they will find their way to return back to you.”

Nero took the poetry book and silently skimmed through it. “Well Vergil did say he won’t lose next time.” His eyes were fixed on a certain page of the book, but Kyrie knew that his mind was elsewhere. Then he glanced up at her, determination shone in his eyes. “Guess I should start training so I can beat his ass again!”

She giggled at that as she tied the thread into a knot to finishing up the stitches. She then cut the remaining thread and passed the jacket back to Nero. “The house is off limit, though.”

“I know. I’ll drag him and Dante to the backyard and give em a piece of my mind.” His grin widened.

“But make sure you actually have a ‘conversation’ with them,” She leaned in to kiss his cheek. “and not just rely on your fist to do the talking.”

Nero laughed genuinely at that, as his hand cup her cheek. “Alright.”

* * *

Few months later, the twins came back from hell.

Of course, not everything was smooth sailing. There was a lot to work out as the wound of the past was still fresh. 

But as time passed so did their relationship, slowly mending back together. But this time they have each other to do the stitches.


End file.
